My thoughts on education and life in general

Election Countdown

So near, yet so far. With only a few days left before the elections, I fear for our country’s future.

Noynoy lost his credibility in my eyes with his ridiculous ads. Seriously, when will you stop using the names of your mother, father and sister and start doing something concrete?

Gibo lost his credibility with his stand on health issues. Cash incentives for those practicing natural family planning? You have got to be kidding me.

Manny Villar lost his credibility a long time ago with the C5 issue. Face it like a man, damn it. It will continue to haunt you if ever you win as President, and hinder any good thing that you will do. And please, get that freaking song out of my head. What it says is not true. “Si Manny Villar ang magtatapos ng aming kahirapan.” Bleh. Lies and deceit.

Erap. Seriously?

These are the people who are currently leading the race. The rest have no chance of winning, unless a miracle occurs.

Tina, your post was PAINFUL. Not so much because of the lack of choices but because you believe (as so many do) that a vote for, say, Gordon-Fernando, is a wasted vote.

Of all people, you are most suited to understand the nuances of non-linear dynamics. Little things, like moments of hope, clarity, honesty, can make a difference in determining who gets to lead our country. By attempting to make your vote count by voting for a person who has a chance of winning, you undermine the influence of those moments. Don’t.

Vote your conscience, vote your heart. No need to facepalm. Let the quantum of integrity start with you, Tina, and cascade to those who listen to you. God bless.

OK that’s fair ’nuff. And in response, if the reason not to vote for Noynoy is just his ads – that’s pretty lamde ‘di ba? It is true that he may not have done anything concrete. Would his honesty / integrity be sufficient to recruit and manage a sufficiently strong cabinet that would work toward the good of the country?

In the end – yun pa rin yun payo ko: Nonwithstanding that the last 5.5 years haven’t been what you liked, it’s only when each player votes with integrity that the end result could mean a true mandate.

What I find annoying in Noynoy’s campaign is the fact that they are heavily relying on Ninoy and Cory’s name. Why aren’t they highlighting what he’s done, if any? And if you look at Noynoy’s site, the only achievement he’s proud of is fighting corruption. It’s practically empty of the plans he wants to implement when he wins. If that is all he is going to do when he becomes president, that is pretty lame. Because that fight is going to succeed only if he puts the right people into position: people who are not easily swayed by bribes or intimidation.

Noynoy clearly doesn’t have the track record. So I’m not gonna defend him on that – the point nga lang was that I’d encourage people to vote who they think would be best and letting the chances of winning be determines by the results of a vote in integrity.

Pero Tina – the discourse actually brought to light one of our shortcomings: the lack of a forum for rigorous but honest discussion and analysis. Kung baga, sino yun “Nate Silver” natin sa Pinas? (if you haven’t heard of him checkout some of his analyses at fivethirtyeight.com).

blarg. Thanks for the post. Passion and love of country will win out. As Jacob says in Lost: “It only ends once. Everything else is just progress.”